Today's recruiting roundup examines the bizarre weight-gain strategy of a walk-on long snapper, takes a sneak peek at the weekend's upcoming visits, and discusses a few top-flight wideouts with interest in seeing Ann Arbor.

Hello: Ryan Glasgow

2012 recruiting: not dead yet. Michigan picked up a preferred walk-on yesterday in Aurora (IL) Marmion St. Francis OL Ryan Glasgow, the younger brother of Michigan sophomore-to-be Graham Glasgow. The younger Glasgow is 6'4", 265, and held offers from Wyoming and a handful of FCS schools. Junior highlights:

Fellow 2012 preferred walk-on Taybor Pepper, a long snapper from Saline, was profiled on Ann Arbor.com by Rich Rezler. Pepper is looking to pack on some weight to his 6'3", 190 lbs. frame, and he has an interesting method for doing so:

That unusual concoction is only part of Taybor Pepper’s nightly weight-gain routine.

He also whips up three peanut butter sandwiches. One goes on his nightstand, near the alarm clock set for 2 a.m., when he’ll wake and devour it in the dark.

The other two go in his backpack, a mid-morning snack during class at Saline High School that bridges a high-calorie breakfast and lunch.

Rocky Balboa and Elvis Presley both approve.

Weekend Visitors

The running back situation. You have questions. The answers are, well, murky, even to some of the principal parties. Warren (OH) Howland RB DeVeon Smith will visit Michigan this weekend amidst rumors he's slowing down his recruitment—just a few days ago, it seemed he'd inevitably commit if Ty Isaac didn't beat him to the punch—and he seems either undecided or unsure about the situation at this point ($):

While Smith would not rule out the possibility of committing to Michigan this weekend, even he does not know what to expect.

“I don’t know,” Smith said. “I really don’t know. I’m really going to take it all in. I’m not going in planning to commit at all.”

Smith’s coach is currently in the process of coordinating upcoming visits to Ohio State and Penn State. Have any schools separated themselves from the pack at this point?

“Nobody really stands out,” Smith said.

I'm not going to speculate about what's going on without first-hand information, so you'll have to decide for yourself—or better yet, just wait and see how things play out—what this means regarding Smith and Isaac.

Another 2013 prospect who will be on campus is tight end Scott Orndoff, who decommitted from Wisconsin a couple weeks ago after changes to their coaching staff. He sounds like he could be eying another early decision, especially with the way Michigan's class is filling up ($):

“If I decide I want to go there, I will have to make a decision quickly,” Orndoff said, “because of how quickly they are filling their spots. Like every player I just want what is best for me. Like whether it would be the school (academics), or how much playing time I am going to get. There is a lot that goes into it (recruiting). But definitely the way this class is filling up, I can’t take my time if I decide to go there. They are not going got wait for me, you know.”

Orndoff is one of just two remaining uncommitted tight ends currently holding an offer from Michigan (the other being Standish Dobard); he seems like the most likely player to fill a potential third TE spot in the class.

Meanwhile, the Cass Tech connection continues, as a trio of Technician linebackers will make the quick trip down to Ann Arbor this weekend ($). All three players—OLB William White, OLB Deon Drake, and MLB Gary Hosey, who transferred to CT from Farmington Hills Harrison—are class of 2014 prospects. If you're wondering, the answer is yes, I will be seeing my fair share of Cass Tech games this fall.

Future Visitors, Interested Prospects, Happy Trails, Etc.

One player who was rumored to be making a mid-week visit is Cretin-Derham (MN) WR James Onwualu, but plans for a Wednesday visit fell through. That doesn't mean interest in the Wolverines isn't there, however, as Onwualu named a top four (in no particular order) of Michigan, Notre Dame, Minnesota, and Stanford ($). He's got visits scheduled for Ohio State and ND the next couple weekends, and expect him to reschedule his Michigan visit soon; the last time we talked, Onwualu was planning to graduate early and he's looking to wrap up his recruitment in the near future.

Two other four-star receivers have recently expressed interest in visiting Ann Arbor. Charlotte (NC) Mallard Creek's MarQuez North originally hails from Flint, and he's looking to visit Michigan "when it warms up," according to 247 ($, info in header). Smart kid. Wylie (TX) East's Marcell Ateman expects to check out the Wolverines soon, either in the spring or summer ($, info in header). Michigan also had a wideout on campus last weekend in Damascus (MD) prospect Zach Bradshaw, who rated his visit a "nine out of ten" and said he wants to check out Ann Arbor again in the future ($).

A couple more players to keep an eye on: District Heights (MD) Bishop McNamara DT Darius Commissiong, who recently earned an Iowa offer, will be in the Big House for the spring game on April 14th ($). Another potential future visitor is Elyria (OH) DE Tracy Sprinkle, who says the coaching staff has an offer waiting for him if he makes it to campus ($).

We can officially wish happy trails to TE Adam Breneman, who committed to childhood favorite Penn State last Friday, marking a huge recruiting victory for coach Bill O'Brien. Rancho Cucamonga (CA) CB Chris Hawkins was expected to commit to Stanford on Saturday, but a last-minute offer from USC has caused him to hold off for now ($, info in header). While Hawkins had Michigan in his final group, he never visited; expect him to stay out on the West Coast.

Quickly: Free Rivals article on Shane Morris, Brady Hoke, and Michigan's in-state recruiting efforts in comparison to other in-state schools (and, yes, in comparison to Rich Rodriguez—you know this story). Bill Greene looks at Hoke's impressive work in Ohio for the 2013 class ($). Commit Chris Fox is named Scout's top interior lineman in the West ($)—they do mention that he has the size and versatility to play anywhere on the line.

With all the hype built up for RBs this week, I'm trying to prepare myself for disappointment by lowering my expectations... it seems less an less likely that either Smith or Isaac will verbal by the end of the week. But there's still planty of time to convince one of them.

Sometimes I wonder if all the hype and rumor that gets spun out of control on the internet actually causes some of these guys to back off a little...

As a former college athlete, your first amount of press normally makes you more excited about whatever it is that you just accomplished be it on the field or committing. I think if anything these guys would be happier to come to Michigan or whatever their school of choice after they see all the positive feedback on the internet. On the other hand, you don't normally see a wow why did they take that player approach. It wouldn't be polite granted, but everyone should be excited when a young person goes to college and play sports.

I don't disagree with that. I think positive feedback is one thing, but reading and hearing over and over again that you WILL definitely commit when you visit... or that your hand is being forced because someone else is definitely going to commit... just seems to be setting up a lot of stress/pressure that would be easy to remove yourself from by simply deciding to take a breath and take a little more time in your decision.

I think the bigger issue with the constant media hype is that is creates expectations that aren't necessarily based in reality. In this case, Ty Isaac has publicly maintained throughout the entire process that he wasn't planning to make a decision and he wants to take his visit to USC before he does anything else. His long visit last weekend created a lot of speculation, but none of that actually came from him—he's pretty much shut himself off from the media at this point, and I don't blame him one bit.

As always, you said it better than I ever could... which I suppose is why you have a blog and I don't. If I limited myself to just reading your articles and tried to resist the temptation of reading every single recruiting thread and comment, I probably would come away with a much more realistic, fact-based expectation. But damn if I don't love to read speculation about what top prospect is going to verbal next... I guess we're all susceptible to that to some degree.

I still don't understand how a team decides to give out offers. Sounds like we are serious contenders for several highly rated defensive lineman, yet we continue to give out offers. If the lower rated players commit, then we might have to pass on some of the 5*/high 4* players. I figured we would wait (maybe until mid summer) and see what direction Vanderdoes, Poggi, Webb and Lathum are trending before sending more offers out.

I know very little about recruiting strategy, so I'm obviously missing something. Hoke and staff seem to know what they are doing and doing it quite well.

Yeah, I should've been more clear in the post: that wasn't a complete list of visitors for the weekend, just a collection of guys who'd had articles written about them this week. I should have the full list up in Friday's recruiting roundup; I like to confirm as many as I can before I post one.

My old man taught me early in life the value of PB and B...I love it. Esp on toast. But at 2 in the morning, toast isn't practical. So I hope the MGoWisdom we impart here can be helpful to future Wolverines.